Searching for Brown’s Upside

The Lakers will be using the terms “upside” and “potential” again in relation to a young player nearly 7 feet tall. Only this time it will be in regard to Kwame Brown, as opposed to last month, when the subject was top draft choice Andrew Bynum.

Details have been finalized on the deal that brought Brown from the Washington Wizards, the Lakers shipping away point guard Chucky Atkins along with forward Caron Butler for a 23-year-old former No. 1 overall draft choice who has yet to play to expectations.

The Lakers are now thinner at small forward, a position that needed trimming, and whisper-thin at point guard, a position that will need bolstering.

What Brown brings is youth and muscle down low -- he is listed at 6 feet 11 and 243 pounds but is closer to 7 feet and 270 these days -- and the likely end of Laker days for Brian Grant and Vlade Divac. Grant probably will be waived to save almost $30 million in luxury taxes, and Divac is considering retirement if he is bought out for $2 million. A report from Belgrade said Divac had already decided to retire.

The Lakers needed a youthful big guy and got him for $16 million over two years, with a team option for about $9 million in 2007-08.

Unlike Bynum, Brown has already navigated four NBA seasons, though with unsettled results. He clashed with an aging Michael Jordan his first two seasons with the Wizards, then appeared to be turning things around with a quietly productive third season -- 10.9 points and 7.4 rebounds a game -- before regressing in a dreadful 2004-05 season that ended with him suspended for insubordination for the Wizards’ final seven playoff games.

The Lakers are banking that a new environment and coach prompt an about-face.

In meetings Tuesday at Laker headquarters, Brown was impressed by Coach Phil Jackson’s presence, soothed by General Manager Mitch Kupchak’s interest, and intrigued by conversations with owner Jerry Buss and vice president Magic Johnson.

“I think he was really overwhelmed by their spending time with him and making him feel very comfortable here,” Brown’s agent, Arn Tellem, said Thursday. “It’s a fresh start. He’s very excited to play with Kobe [Bryant]. He’s very excited to play for a great team with a great history.

“To me, he is an incredible athlete who is very competitive, and I think the combination of playing with Kobe, who will help push him in the right direction, and in playing for Phil, what he saw here was the opportunity to really blossom as a professional and achieve his great potential that we all hope he’ll be able to reach.”

Neither the Lakers nor Wizards can comment on the trade until July 22.

The latest example of Buss’ high-risk, high-reward mind-set, Brown will be penciled in at power forward and joined by Bryant at shooting guard, Chris Mihm at center, Lamar Odom at small forward and a to-be-determined point guard.

Sasha Vujacic, who averaged 2.9 points in 35 games during his rookie season, is the only point guard on the roster with any experience.

The position is less traditional in Jackson’s triangle offense -- Odom or Bryant often will bring the ball upcourt -- but the Lakers are courting unrestricted free agent Antonio Daniels, a 6-4 point guard who averaged a career-best 11.2 points for the Seattle SuperSonics last season.

Daniels, 30, has visited Laker headquarters and is deciding among the Lakers, Wizards, Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers, Miami Heat or a return to Seattle.

If Daniels does not accept the Lakers’ offer of their midlevel exception -- about $5 million a year for probably two years -- the Lakers will sift through the bin of remaining unrestricted free-agent point guards: Earl Watson, Dan Dickau, Tyronn Lue, Brevin Knight and Jeff McInnis.

Butler’s departure will thin a small-forward position that remains congested with Odom, Devean George, Luke Walton and Jumaine Jones.

The Lakers were intrigued by Butler’s emergence toward the end of last season, when he averaged 21.9 points over the last 15 games, but he was a defensive liability and failed to provide consistent scoring until Odom sustained a season-ending shoulder injury.

Furthermore, the Lakers might have lost him without compensation when he becomes a restricted free agent next July. The Lakers probably would not have matched another team’s offer because of their long-term strategy to be under the salary cap by summer 2007, when Yao Ming and Amare Stoudemire could become unrestricted free agents.

The Wizards, seeking a backup to All-Star point guard Gilbert Arenas, chose Atkins, 30, to complete the trade instead of George to avoid their own logjam at small forward, where they have Antawn Jamison, Jarvis Hayes and Butler.